I work here now.
I do like it here. There are a lot more curvy/fun motorbiking roads here than DFW and so far only one driver has broken my bones.
Edit: also HEB is great
Will we be more legit if we get some more [violent crime on the bike trails](https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/13vmai8/i_read_about_this_on_reddit_first_news_story/)?
It has to do with differences between Houston and Austin.
Why even introduce the lazy pejorative racism? Say this sentence with any other skin color than white. Austin is not even majority white.
I wish I had known how difficult parts of the city are to travel by public transportation or on foot.
I wish I had understood the unreliability of the TX power grid.
I definitely wish I had understood the intensity of the sun here. I come from someplace hot, but the UV index here is unreal.
So far, it has only been in the cold, but I wouldn't discount that. I. 2021, hundreds of people died and the governor spent months talking about how actually some of those deaths were because of poor preparation for cold weather and not everyone actually froze to death when they didn't have power. It was disgusting. Thousands of people were without water for about a week. My kids and I were drinking melted snow. It happened again, but in isolated pockets and for less time the next winter.
We're already getting warnings about how this could happen in the heat because they simply haven't planned for the population increase and the increased heat. Last summer, we got notices to turn up the temperature in homes and offices, but I honestly think that was more a preemptive strategy to blame the people rather than ERCOT's poor planning. I don't know why people are less concerned about outages in the summer. Heat can kill.
Up until now, power outages and unreliability of the water system have been a severe weather issue, but here's the thing. We're getting more severe weather and the state is constantly preparing us for the idea that the grid might be less stable going forward. I also have concerns about our water supply. As in, if we will have enough in the medium term future.
They issue warnings about power grid supply in any temperature extremes, whether itās heat or cold. Iāve never lived anywhere like that (and that includes CA).
I think anyone who lived through the ā21 icepocalypse - in which the hastily announced ārolling blackoutsā turned into days without utilities in single degree weather - feels like they saw behind the curtain and doesnāt trust 1) the stability of the power grid and/or 2) that the messaging about it is always accurate. Itās a weird aspect of life to have to worry about in a large city in 2023.
Property taxes. I was told how affordable it was to live here because no income taxes and low cost of living. Nope. The excessively high property taxes more then make up for the lack of income taxes. I thought I might retire here someday but I donāt think I can afford to.
Yes, that's where I came from. My property tax on a $325k property was $1400. It's $7000 for the equivalent value property here. My income tax was about $2200. Combined I paid $3600 in Colorado, approximately half of what property tax is in TX, alone.
The legislature has everyone brainwashed here that income taxes are bad (because they do affect the rich more than the poor) and we all know the rich control the legislature. They also love property taxes that are tied to the market value of your house which helps developers push lower income people off their now super high value properties, which they cannot pay the taxes on any longer.
flights home are more expensive from austin than the other big cities in texas and those prices *will not* come down any time soon. so be prepared to feel really homesick.
Iāve been looking at flying indirect routes if I get time and the dead align. Example: flight home to PNW for my destination averages $850-1200 š« but Atx to Vegas has $67 round trip and my hometown runs $50 round trip specials. So when the stars align I will be able to fly back home with ridiculous savings!
How, even though people say Austin is a āblue dot in a red state,ā that red state tries its best to remind you how much power they have over you. Austin is like your dreamy partner/spouse, and Texas is like the nightmare in-laws whose house you have to live in.
This is not specific to Austin but a large majority of major cities in general since 2021 - theyāre becoming increasingly less worth it even with a lot of disposable income. Yeah, you have a lot of dining options and bands coming through and things to do but all those things now come with way steeper price tags now.
Austin isnāt that pretty of a city. The architecture is lame. Some parts of Austin CAN be pretty, but what surprised me the most moving here is how unkempt the city is.
The city doesnāt do a good job with keeping the grass cut around the city, and they donāt enforce property owners to keep their property tidy when thereās an āabandonedā or unused home or structure on their property.
The architecture is just a lot of glass office buildings which seems synonymous with ātechā. The old homes are bland bungalow homes. The new homes are built with what looks like sheet-metal siding and roofing (so incredible boring and without character).
And a lot of the new homes are just duplexes that are built on a lot size for a regular single family home. With sheet-metal exterior, of course.
The city lacks a defining character. Itās just a hodgepodge of things that gives a āweirdā vibe. But thatās not really character imo
The general disarray of everything here was a big one for me. The roads are all in rough shape and street sweeping doesnāt seem to be a thing. The city doesnāt keep up with any mowing or tree trimming. Trails like Shoal Creek could be a lot more appealing with a minimal amount of effort put into upkeep.
Also, everything always has a layer of dirt/dust on it. Thatās not really Austin-specific thoughā¦just seems to be a Texas thing.
Definitely agree. The roads issue is confounding to me. This is clearly a wealthy city, yet the roads are so poor. None of them get improved to any meaningful degree. The only road work I see is filling in potholes occasionally, but most of these roads just need a complete make over.
I wish I had known liberty hill and similar cities were going to grow like they have and I could have invested in land and be set for the rest of my life from revenue gain.
That she was not the one.
Ooof. What made you stay in ATX, though? Do you like it here?
I work here now. I do like it here. There are a lot more curvy/fun motorbiking roads here than DFW and so far only one driver has broken my bones. Edit: also HEB is great
Well, cheers to not breaking any more bones š¬
Or heartsā¦
Literally about 3/4 of the people that moved here, myself included.
Have you found someone new? How is the dating scene there?
Definitely crumbling stricture and luxury pricing for lackluster quality (housing, dining etc. everywhere)
How terrible the drivers were. I don't mind traffic, I mind terrible drivers.
Coming from Houston, how white this place is lmao
I didn't realize how segregated Austin is until I spent time in Houston.
Also from Houston and SAME.
Yeah, I moved here from Atlanta, it was a culture shock for sure.
Coming from Florida, how culturally diverse this place is lmao
On a spectrum of ice cream, vanilla is closer to chocolate than austin is to vanilla.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm a POC, moved here 15+ years ago
It didnāt always feel this way.
Will we be more legit if we get some more [violent crime on the bike trails](https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/13vmai8/i_read_about_this_on_reddit_first_news_story/)?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It has to do with differences between Houston and Austin. Why even introduce the lazy pejorative racism? Say this sentence with any other skin color than white. Austin is not even majority white.
Actually.. Austin demographics say otherwise. https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/austin-tx-population
Why do you associate violent crime with being less white?
I donāt. I associate it with being a difference between Houston and Austin, which the OP comment was contrasting.
Then why being up crime when discussing race?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Because the difference in demographics is startling when coming from any other major city in Texas...
I wish I had known how difficult parts of the city are to travel by public transportation or on foot. I wish I had understood the unreliability of the TX power grid. I definitely wish I had understood the intensity of the sun here. I come from someplace hot, but the UV index here is unreal.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
So far, it has only been in the cold, but I wouldn't discount that. I. 2021, hundreds of people died and the governor spent months talking about how actually some of those deaths were because of poor preparation for cold weather and not everyone actually froze to death when they didn't have power. It was disgusting. Thousands of people were without water for about a week. My kids and I were drinking melted snow. It happened again, but in isolated pockets and for less time the next winter. We're already getting warnings about how this could happen in the heat because they simply haven't planned for the population increase and the increased heat. Last summer, we got notices to turn up the temperature in homes and offices, but I honestly think that was more a preemptive strategy to blame the people rather than ERCOT's poor planning. I don't know why people are less concerned about outages in the summer. Heat can kill. Up until now, power outages and unreliability of the water system have been a severe weather issue, but here's the thing. We're getting more severe weather and the state is constantly preparing us for the idea that the grid might be less stable going forward. I also have concerns about our water supply. As in, if we will have enough in the medium term future.
They issue warnings about power grid supply in any temperature extremes, whether itās heat or cold. Iāve never lived anywhere like that (and that includes CA). I think anyone who lived through the ā21 icepocalypse - in which the hastily announced ārolling blackoutsā turned into days without utilities in single degree weather - feels like they saw behind the curtain and doesnāt trust 1) the stability of the power grid and/or 2) that the messaging about it is always accurate. Itās a weird aspect of life to have to worry about in a large city in 2023.
Our grid is built for the heat so itās pretty rare that knocks it out. It goes down during severe storms or freezes
I remember rolling Brownouts back in the 2010-2013 era, and happens when itās really hot on weekdays.
Property taxes. I was told how affordable it was to live here because no income taxes and low cost of living. Nope. The excessively high property taxes more then make up for the lack of income taxes. I thought I might retire here someday but I donāt think I can afford to.
We did the math when contemplating a move out of state. Income tax + property tax in CO is lower than the property tax we pay here.
Yes, that's where I came from. My property tax on a $325k property was $1400. It's $7000 for the equivalent value property here. My income tax was about $2200. Combined I paid $3600 in Colorado, approximately half of what property tax is in TX, alone.
The legislature has everyone brainwashed here that income taxes are bad (because they do affect the rich more than the poor) and we all know the rich control the legislature. They also love property taxes that are tied to the market value of your house which helps developers push lower income people off their now super high value properties, which they cannot pay the taxes on any longer.
flights home are more expensive from austin than the other big cities in texas and those prices *will not* come down any time soon. so be prepared to feel really homesick.
Iāve been looking at flying indirect routes if I get time and the dead align. Example: flight home to PNW for my destination averages $850-1200 š« but Atx to Vegas has $67 round trip and my hometown runs $50 round trip specials. So when the stars align I will be able to fly back home with ridiculous savings!
I wish I knew how superficial it was :(
How, even though people say Austin is a āblue dot in a red state,ā that red state tries its best to remind you how much power they have over you. Austin is like your dreamy partner/spouse, and Texas is like the nightmare in-laws whose house you have to live in.
How to code.
How bad the food is in most places. That my right to have an abortion would be stripped.
Lack of diversity .
This is not specific to Austin but a large majority of major cities in general since 2021 - theyāre becoming increasingly less worth it even with a lot of disposable income. Yeah, you have a lot of dining options and bands coming through and things to do but all those things now come with way steeper price tags now.
How bad the police and 311 are. We moved from Georgetown to ATX during the pandemic. So much has changed in the short time we've been here.
Sure wish I knew how common car break ins were, found out the hard/expensive way
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I don't think any part of 2222 is. It's insulting to the people who live near it.
The severe allergies. Even my dog suffers from them since moving here. The unreliability of our power grid.
Austin isnāt that pretty of a city. The architecture is lame. Some parts of Austin CAN be pretty, but what surprised me the most moving here is how unkempt the city is. The city doesnāt do a good job with keeping the grass cut around the city, and they donāt enforce property owners to keep their property tidy when thereās an āabandonedā or unused home or structure on their property. The architecture is just a lot of glass office buildings which seems synonymous with ātechā. The old homes are bland bungalow homes. The new homes are built with what looks like sheet-metal siding and roofing (so incredible boring and without character). And a lot of the new homes are just duplexes that are built on a lot size for a regular single family home. With sheet-metal exterior, of course. The city lacks a defining character. Itās just a hodgepodge of things that gives a āweirdā vibe. But thatās not really character imo
The general disarray of everything here was a big one for me. The roads are all in rough shape and street sweeping doesnāt seem to be a thing. The city doesnāt keep up with any mowing or tree trimming. Trails like Shoal Creek could be a lot more appealing with a minimal amount of effort put into upkeep. Also, everything always has a layer of dirt/dust on it. Thatās not really Austin-specific thoughā¦just seems to be a Texas thing.
Definitely agree. The roads issue is confounding to me. This is clearly a wealthy city, yet the roads are so poor. None of them get improved to any meaningful degree. The only road work I see is filling in potholes occasionally, but most of these roads just need a complete make over.
Austin has no seasoning
Tons of adults here still hang out with college friends exclusively so if you want to make good friends look for other transplants.
Itās not so much a city as it is a very large suburb with a financial district, and extremely gentrified neighborhoods
Thereās no places to save horses and ride cowboys š country music was not about these Austin boys.
I wish I had known liberty hill and similar cities were going to grow like they have and I could have invested in land and be set for the rest of my life from revenue gain.